An Off Topic Discussion about Reading
 

This is not about the hurricane, politics, abortion, or cars..

It's about reading.

what do people read?

I read and collect the following:

Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, Gore Vidal, and various other non-fiction books on politics, adventure, and exploration.

I mostly collect signed books, including Easton Press, Stephen King, and a couple others.


how about you?

(Note: if you're thinking about insulting me with a response like "you read? i wouldn't have guessed", save it for another OT thread, i contribute to many)

:D

I read a lot of Stephen King novels. Some of my favorites are "Christine", "Pet Cematary", and "Needful Things". Other than that, George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and "1984" are really good novels as well, IMHO.

By the way, I was into reading and collecting so much I decided to start an on-line bookstore ,www.veryfinebooks.com , (shameless plug). I also do the ebay thing.

Read Atlas Shrugged from time to time. Getting ready to dive into the Davinci Code shortly. Always like a good Ludlum book...

JoeA

Do "angels and demons" first.

I'm a huge SciFi fan. I'm currently re-reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy.

Essayists... E.B. White & James Thurber. I'll read anything they wrote. Running out though, and they're dead so I'll have to find some new favorites. David Sedaris is up there, with the added bonus of being alive.

Novelists... Joseph Conrad & Graham Green

on-ramp... did that blaupunkt ever arrive?

Yes, thank you. I've been meaning to write back to you. I love it. It's going straight into the 1970T....a perfect place for it...

and the electrical connections are so much simpler than the moder-day stereos.
:)

something that has tech related info.. From "To Touch A Wild Dolphin" to "A Brief History of Time"

Truly an amazing piece of work by an amazing mind

children's books, to my 6 yr old.

Tom Clancy and Orson Scott Card
two of the best writers on earth

In a couple of years.

Artemis Fowl series. Better than that geek Potter. I will be suprised if a movie is not made from these. They are VERY cool.


Series of Unfortunate Events. Jim Carey recently starred in a movie version.


These 2 series have made bedtimes fun for Dad.

Or you can do like my brother and read Racer Magazine to them at bedtime.

I love to read. I choose books from award winners lists at Amazon. I like history and historical fiction.

This is one of the best books I've read in years;

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My favorite story-teller of all time has to be John LeCarre. That Tolkein fellow has some pretty heavy stuff, too. But there's nothing for light fare like ol' Doug Adams, from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the nutty adventures of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency to the Salmon of Doubt.

Vonnegut? I didn't really like his work, sadly. It was highly recommended for a long time, so I collected several of his books in anticipation, then found them dull. Did I miss something? While I'm venting, I'll confess that I didn't really like Dostoevsky either, but I could only tolerate one of his (Crime and Punishment). Am I just not cultured, or does the emperor have no clothes?

Not bad the Pressfield book, but a little dry I thought. I started Alcibiades and couldn't hack it...

ianc

Use to read alot of Sci Fi. Read the original Foundation series a long time ago.

Mostly read history now. Currently reading The Histories by Herodotus.

Pressfield is very good. Tides of War was also good. Try Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" Series. Excellent if a bit soap opera-ish.

I have spent a fortune on books about Collectables....the latest book...The Mortimer Gunmakers by Lee Munson....which is about the British Gunmaker of the 18th through 20th century....that cost $65.00...it's all reference...

In general I like to read History.... The 12 Caesars by Suetonius

Have you read "1776" by Mc Cullough?

I'm looking for a first edition of "Catcher in the Rye"...please pm me if you come across one.
Christian.

Yeah, I know they're upwards of 20K...it doesn't need to be perfect or even have the dust cover...

No. I haven't. I read the jacket but it seemed to be almost a romance novel. Not my kinda thing.

Other favorite authors are Jeff Shaara and Edward Rutherford who writes in a James Michener type style.

Flatbutt-

If you like Scifi AND history an interesting book is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

If you liked 1776, read April 1865. They are not romances.

Anyone with an interest in history without an inclination to wade through some pretty heavy reading should check out stuff by Shaara. Great overviews of the Revolutionary, Mexican and Civil Wars that are very readable and entertaining. Very much worth the time spent. A Brief History of Time is indeed fantastic.

C. S. Lewis wrote some tremendous material: The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, and The Abolition of Man will all make you think.

For kids(which is more fun than King, and more rewarding than Conrad, Tolstoy or even Dostoevsky), Harry Potter is great, so are Artemis Fowl and A Series of Unfortuante Events, and I also like The Edge Chronicles, as well as the Narnia series (by C. S. Lewis), and even Tolkien. The kids like hearing them, and the time with dad, and it has helped the oldest with reading skills. By the way few things will have as positive an impact in the education of a child as helping them to read at a high level.

I personally enjoy Hemmingway, especially his short stories.

Well allowing for personal definition of "romance" I'd say give it a try. You can borrow my copy bro. It was more narrative than a straight history but offered it from the perspective that is achieved through the use of personal journals and letters.

Ahh... Never judge a book...

When I was handed a copy of this one, my first thought was I would be embarassed to be seen reading it. All it needed was a bold endorsement from Oprah. Well, I was stuck in an airport one day and the book was in my carry on. I started reading and couldn't put the damn book down. It's the story of Quanah Parker, the last free Comanche war chief. An amazing story well told. But the cover! Buy the book and re-cover it!

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My dad got me reading a lot as a kid, I basically became a bookworm. Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, the French equivalents of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie, the Sherlock Holmes stories, I'm drawing a blank on what else I liked.

He made me read most of Shakespeare's plays as well - not sure what I got out of that, really.

At some point he got worried because I read so much, I recall several months when I was forbidden to read anything except mathematics textbooks. He wouldn't let me watch TV either. Can you imagine!

Then I read tons more as a pre-teen/teenager, mostly sci-fi. Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Frank Herbert, Philip K Dick, William Gibson, etc. All the Conan the Barbarian stories, all the Ian Fleming books. Loved it. Was a Trekkie too.

I read more classics in high-school and college. Stendahl, Stephen Crane, Homer, etc. I also read various philosophy works, Rene Descartes, Bertrand Russell and so on - I think I was too young for it though.

Also read lots on military history, took classes in it in college as well. What specific books do I remember - there was a book by Bertrand Fall on Dien Bien Phu, also General Ridgeway's history of the Korean War (or was it MacArthur's? I forget now)..

Popular science books. Lewis Thomas, Stephen Jay Gould are two authors I remember (write on biology and evolution). Stephen Hawkins' books too.

Various mystery/espionage/adventure authors. Tom Clancy and so on.

For some years I was really into New Yorker authors. AJ Liebling, who few people nowaday have heard of, and John McPhee.

As an adult, I've largely stopped reading fiction, except for the occasional dog-eared sci-fi paperback. Mostly I read books on economics and financial markets, and not all that many of them either. I did read "Ice Station Zebra" recently, since a friend is going to spend some time at an Antarctic research station. I also got into the Aubry and Maturin seafaring stories ("Master and Commander" etc), made it through the first ten before getting bored.

And, of course, the Harry Potter books, Wayne's 101 projects and engine rebuilding books, and the Bentley Manual for the Carrera.

My daughter is turning into a good little reader too, I'm really happy about it. My son, that's another story (sigh).